HTC want to make peace with Apple

As regular readers of Kitguru will already know, Apple and HTC are in the middle of some legal wranglings over a patent dispute. HTC want to sit down with Apple and end the stalemate.

HTC have said they are willing to negotiate with Apple to settle the patent battle, but Apple have yet to make any statement on the matter, so no one is sure of their stance.

The HTC chief financial offer Winston Yung told Bloomberg that his company wants to reach a deal which will resolve the legal issues.

On July 15th Apple scored a victory at the U.S. International Trade Commissions when a judge said that HTC had infringed on two of Apple's patents which are related to HTC's use of the Android operating system. A full commission has to meet in December to confirm the ruling and this could theoretically mean the ban of HTC products in the USA.

Yung said “We are open to all sorts of solutions, as long as the solution and the terms are fair and reasonable. On and off we’ve had discussions with Apple, even before the initial determination (against HTC) came out.”

Nokia were in a similar situation earlier this year, but they managed to strike a deal with Apple, suiting both companies. Their settlement revolved around ongoing licensing fees, as well as a one off payment made from Apple to Nokia. The deal has never been detailed, but Nokia said they received a $600 million royalty payment last quarter.

If Apple take it further against HTC, and win in the end, then it could have some serious ramifications for the industry, especially if royalty fees for Android devices are ruled into the verdict. Microsoft already claim $5 per unit on the sale of Android hardware.

Kitguru says: Will Apple accept the proposal to discuss?

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